Bat in Parallel
by ppppqp
Summary: A batman in another universe. Poor but still dark.


To tell you the truth, I am batman. I didn't inherit the Wayne's and I was not a billionaire, but I am batman.

I am batman because when I was a child I used to climb in a cave to stay. Sometimes I stayed there because I hated being with others. My parents, my friends, teachers, you name it. All they taught me is that you have to walk this road alone. I remembered one day my parents took me with them because they both have to visit some friends. They may have some financial problems, I guess. They asked me to smile, which I couldn't. Why smile when there is nothing funny? Every day I could see them quarrel, my mother blaming my father for not making enough money, my father fought back by asking why didn't she take a job and feed us. Sometimes they wouldn't let me hear them arguing so they drew me out of the house. Simple and effective. We were constantly moving to avoid debt collectors, and often the house was broken in and stolen because the police in Gotham sucks. There were no good helping us, the poorest among all. I didn't see anything delightful in my life, but my parents always wanted me to smile. "Why so serious?" they sometimes asked.

It's weird, because I was not being serious. I was completely scared.

The cave I used to go is just beside the sea. Actually, the entrance is about ten feet under water. You have to dive in, and the entrance looks scary like a mouth of a beast, so barely anyone know it. I was like the owner. In this cave I felt like I was a billionaire. Batcave, the way I call it. One stormy night I again left the house and wandered about on the street, farther and farther away from the filthy city. The destination, surely, was the cave. I dived, floated and climbed on the ground in dark. It was so dark that you couldn't even feel your leg for a second. I couldn't feel anything. My leg tried to support me, but I was rootless. No home, no education, no future. All of a sudden I was totally scared that I would just vanish like nothing. It gripped me, really tight. I couldn't move and there was a trance. The time froze.

Then the bats came, like a black gust of wind with sheer sound. They came right at me like slapping me at my face. It hurt but I could move and feel myself again. I kneeled down and prayed, that they would bite me and change my gene and change my life. But they didn't. They came and went. I was still on the ground, shivering like hell, whispering my prayers and worship to those dark creatures. People always seek divine signs when they are afraid. To me, bats are my redeemer.

My parents died shortly after. They were killed by thousands of creditors. That morning they took me to court. In the morning they tried to dress me up in something decent, though the efforts were in vain. But that made me think that going to court was a solemn ritual to observe. It was the first time that I enter such grand scene, and it never occurred to me that it was the funeral in advance for my parents. I was so young that I couldn't understand a lot. When we came home at noon, they let me go away from the home. I walked towards the batcave, but when I was about to dive in I found that my suit was still on. I went home to change another one so that it wouldn't get dirty. I knocked and knocked but nobody answered the door.

After my parent's death I was adopted by a man in sixties called Alfred. He was a wealthy man. Really wealthy. What's more, He was the kindest man I ever met. He was simply not married so he wanted to adopt a child. Gee, I was so envied when other kid heard that I was adopted by Alfred. Weirdly, instead of being flattered, they beat me more often. So old Alfred sent me to combat training. To be honest, I was pretty good at it, probably because of those "combats" I had in my childhood in lanes and bushes. What I learnt from the street, they can be bleak. To win or be defeated, no surrender or retreat. I fought like a mad dog in the fight club.

I was likely to become a professional underground boxer if Alfred didn't insist on my attending college. I respected him so I went to college. College was a nice place, as you meet the best bright brilliant people there. They are, like I said, bright. Coming from an affluent family with high education, they have their good life to live in youthful campus. I was different. Even Alfred couldn't change it. The feeling of nothingness gripped me once in a while and paralyze me like when I was in the batcave that stormy night. I was eager for the dark gust of wind. I was eager for a slap in my face to remind me that the battle hadn't ended and keep moving. There was an urge inside me. So I went to underground boxing ring at night. Everybody there needed a nickname. I called myself "Batman" because I worship those dark creatures. I was a senior when I was first informed of the underground boxing ring. A man called Gorden took me in. We split the bills and prizes. He was responsible for finding the game and researching the opponent. I played the game. He was quite good at it, and we stood out among all the teams because we use brains together with fists. We won some fame, but the good time didn't last.

The owner of the ring noticed us.

The owner, whose name is "Joker", showed great interest in us. He was the weirdest and craziest that I had ever seen. Before every game he wrote the name of the underdog, not the winner, on the poker. The participants of the game, which was chosen and matched by him, were likely to come from two categories. Rich, well-trained thrill seekers or poor, cornered red-eyed mad. He said that was a real combat of power, because hatred and disgust is the driving force. Those two would fight till death.

He showed so much interest in me because I didn't fit. I was from a poor family and stray dog afterwards, but I was now somehow educated and wealthy. And I always won. To the ring, I was like a balance of power, a real king who has the blood from both two species. I calmed chaos. Joker didn't hate me. He just tried to beat me and prove to me that I could provide no order.


End file.
